Alone Time
by ladyoftheknightley
Summary: Ron and Hermione have just moved into their first house together, and are looking forward to a nice evening spent alone as a couple, but unfortunately, the other Weasleys seem to have other ideas. Luckily, Ron has a plan... xFor the 2012 Hogwarts Games at HPFC!x


**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and everything associated with it belongs to JK Rowling, and I am not she (sadface). No profit is being made from this!

**A/N: **Written for the 2012 Hogwarts Games at the HPFC Forum. This entry is for Round 1 of the Football, where I was challenged to write a Ron/Hermione fic (which was very lucky, because they're one of my most favourite couples)! **Warning:** This contains adult themes – nothing graphic, but if you're too young, stay away, or at least don't say I didn't warn you!

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"Phew!" said Ron, as he threw himself onto the sofa. Hermione flopped down next to him. "I am _completely_ exhausted!"

"Come on," replied his fiancée, trying to sound motivated but not moving an inch. "We've got loads of unpacking to do!" Ron groaned. Hermione rolled her eyes, then dug her wand out of the pocket of her jeans, giving it a quick flick and muttering something under her breath. The books, which had been packed away in various boxes, flew out onto the bookshelves, organising themselves neatly.

Ron squinted at the titles nearest to him. "Bloody hell, you got them to alphabetize themselves as well!" Hermione gave a modest smile. "Now, why couldn't we do all the moving like that? We'd have had it finished in a jiffy!"

"You _know_ why," she replied. "My parents wanted to help move me into my first house—well, flat, really—and I don't want them to feel uninvolved by doing everything by magic. You know they've felt anxious about that ever since the whole Australia thing..."

"I know," Ron said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "It was just a pain, having to do all the travelling and moving the Muggle way. I don't know how they cope!"

"And yet somehow they do," Hermione remarked drily. "C'mon, we've got to unpack everything now. I've already done the books, and we can do the rest by magic, it won't be that hard!"

"I love that the first thing you unpacked was books," Ron said, laughing. "And are you _sure_ we have to unpack everything tonight? I'm too tired..." he whined.

"Too tired, you say?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. "I guess you'll be too tired for..." she trailed off, looking at him suggestively.

He grinned at her. "I will _never_ be too tired for that," he said, leaning in to kiss her. Their lips had barely touched, when the front door opened, and the two sprung apart, trying not to look guilty.

"Knock, knock," trilled Ginny, stepping into the room, followed closely by Harry. "Hi guys! We just wanted to make sure you moved in okay, so we thought we'd swing by on the way to Diagon Alley."

"Yeah, we got everything done," Ron said. "I thought we never would – you know, it took us three and a half hours to drive from Hermione's parents' house? _Three and half hours_! Whoever heard of a journey taking that long?" Ginny looked horrified, but Harry grinned at Hermione.

"How do these Muggles survive?" he muttered.

"Exactly, mate!" Ron replied, oblivious to his sarcasm.

"Anyway, we wanted to bring you a little housewarming present," Ginny said.

"Oh, you shouldn't have!" Hermione protested, but Ginny shouted her down.

"Don't be ridiculous!" she said. "We thought you might like a bottle of firewhiskey to toast your new abode."

"Well, we can't say no to that!" Ron grinned. "Cheers, guys."

"No trouble," replied Harry. "This isn't a bad place you've got here, you know."

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Hermione agreed. "The whole block's owned by a muggle, so my parents can come round and not feel out of place—and Ron can continue his fascination with the television, of course!—but it's only five minutes walk from Diagon Alley – it couldn't be more perfect!"

"It's lovely and spacious, too," Ginny said. "Shame about the décor, though – purple and brown's a bit gruesome, isn't it?"

"We'll probably redecorate, soon," said Hermione.

"Yeah – we were thinking of a red and gold theme everywhere," Ron put in, and Harry and Ginny laughed.

"We are _not_ painting our entire apartment in the Gryffindor colours, Ron!" Hermione said, trying to sound stern.

"Alright, just the bedroom then," Ron compromised. "It'll match your underwear – we can leave it all across the floor and it'll look like part of the furniture!"

Hermione laughed, but Ginny and Harry groaned, the latter covering his ears in mock-horror. "Too much information, guys!" he said, and Ginny nodded.

"We'll leave you two to it, then," she said. "Merlin only knows what sort of things we'll end up hearing if we stay!" After a quick round of goodbyes, the Chosen One and his Chosen Woman left, and Hermione and Ron turned back to their new flat.

"Where were we?" Hermione asked.

"Right about here, I think," Ron said, kissing her gently. They had just deepened their embrace, when another knock sounded at the door. They broke apart, exchanging a half-exasperated, half-amused look. "Come in!" Ron called.

The door opened, revealing a very tired-looking Bill, holding a bunch of flowers and doing his best not to yawn at the pair of them. "H-h-hi guys!" he said, finally succumbing to the yawn. "How're you?"

"We're good, but how are _you_?" Hermione asked, concerned. "You look—"

"Dreadful," Ron said. Hermione frowned.

"I was going to say _tired_," she said. "You didn't have to be so—"

"I'm fine, guys," Bill said quickly, not wishing to be caught in the middle of a bickering match between his brother and his fiancée. "Just a bit exhausted. Victoire has colic, and I've gotten about three hours sleep in the last five days."

"Oh, no!" Hermione said, wincing sympathetically.

"I won't stay long," Bill said. "Got to get back and help Fleur with her. She sends her best—and the flowers—but she couldn't come round for obvious reasons."

"Of course," Hermione said, accepting the flowers with thanks. "It's totally understandable."

"It does sound grim," agreed Ron. "Let us know if there's anything we can do to help!"

"We've got her some medicine, but it's just waiting for that to take effect, really," Bill replied. "But yeah..." He gave another huge yawn.

"Look, there's someone from the Ministry coming to hook us up to the floo network the day after tomorrow, so any time after that, just bring her round here for a few hours and you and Fleur can go out together. Or have a nap, maybe," she added, as Bill yawned for a third time.

"That'd be great," Bill said. "Seriously, you have no idea how good the thought of two hours uninterrupted sleep sounds right about now. Anyway, I'd better get going – I don't like to leave Fleur too long, you know?"

"Of course!" Hermione nodded in understanding. "Thanks again for the flowers!"

"Yeah, cheers mate," Ron added. "See you soon!" Bill waved goodbye, and apparated away. "Remind me never to get you pregnant," said Ron, as soon as his brother had vanished.

"There's a certain act that generally comes before that," Hermione said. "And I don't think we're ever going to get around to it, at this rate..."

"We're not?" Ron asked, sounding horrified.

"Not at the rate your siblings keep popping up," she muttered, nodding her head towards the door, where George and his girlfriend, Angelina, had just appeared.

"Hi guys!" the latter said cheerfully.

"Hello," chorused Ron and Hermione, with slightly less enthusiasm.

"We thought we had to stop by and welcome you to your new house, what with us being practically neighbours now!" Angelina smiled.

"And Mum sent something you'd forgotten," George added. "Here you go, Ron!" He pulled out a rather battered old bear from behind his back, and Ron blanched slightly and shot backwards.

Hermione looked at him, rather quizzically. "You wouldn't...I mean...not again...?" Ron said, eyeing the teddy bear distrustfully.

"Why don't I put him here, on the bookshelf?" said Hermione, understanding beginning to dawn. She took the stuffed toy off George and placed him next to her books. "That way, if it turns into a spider again, you can run away into the bedroom whilst I get rid of it..."

"I bet it feels good to have such a brave man about the house," George said idly. Ron scowled.

"Well, we'd love to show you round, but actually, we've got a load of stuff to do, so..." Ron said loudly.

"_Ron_," muttered Hermione.

"Loads and loads of stuff!" he continued, even more pointedly.

"What?" asked George, sounding bemused. "You can unpack by magic, that won't take long, and—"

"Loads and loads and _loads_ of stuff!" Ron almost yelled.

"Oh, George, I've just remembered! I think I left...er...something back at the flat!" exclaimed Angelina.

"What?" asked George. "I'm sure I didn't see anything—"

"Yep, we'd definitely better go back and check it's still there!" his girlfriend continued, steering him firmly towards the door.

"Check _what's_ still there?" asked George.

"Lovely to see you guys!" Angelina cried. "We'll stop by soon!"

"Cheerio!" called Ron.

"_Thank you_," Hermione mouthed to Angelina, as the couple disappeared down the corridor, George still protesting that Angelina was talking nonsense. She closed the door, hearing a loud _Oh!_ of understanding from him just before the crack of disapparition, and she laughed a little before turning back to Ron. "C'mon," she said, "We really need to get this unpacking done. We'll have the whole evening to ourselves afterwards," she added temptingly.

Ron sighed. "I guess you're right. As usual," he said.

"Of course I am," Hermione agreed.

Ten minutes later, most of their belongings had been magiced into their correct places, and the flat was looking much more habitable. "All done?" asked Hermione, stepping into the kitchen where Ron was sending the tableware into the cupboards with more vigour than was strictly necessary.

"Whoops, sorry Hermione!" he said, as she ducked and narrowly avoided decapitation by dinner plate. She waved her wand, and the dishes began stacking themselves at a more sedate pace. "Yeah, everything's done here. How'd you get on with the bedroom stuff?"

"Bed's made and all our clothes are hung up and colour-coded," she replied.

"_All_ our clothes?" asked Ron.

"Well, I mean, not the one's we're wearing, obviously," Hermione said. "But other than those, everything's done and sorted. And I've found a nifty little spell that automatically picks up and sorts any clothes that get left on the floor, so we won't have to look at the dirty, smelly socks you always leave lying around!" she teased.

"That does indeed sound like a clever charm," he agreed. "I think we should go and test it out right now!" He picked her up and whirled around, as she giggled. "_I'll_ rip your knickers off and throw them on the floor, and then the spell will tidy them away whilst we—"

"Woah, hold that sentence right there! There's certain things that you just don't need to hear coming from your brother's mouth!"

Ron's face fell so far, Hermione had to bite her lip to keep from giggling, and, blushing slightly, the pair stepped out into the living room, where Charlie was standing in the doorway. "Nice place you have here," he said, by way of a hello.

"Yes, it's not bad, is it?" Ron said. "We're looking forward to having it all to ourselves," he added pointedly, but if Charlie picked up on the hint, he ignored it.

"How'd you find it?" he asked.

"A friend recommended it," Hermione said. "Someone we went to school with—Padma Patil—she told me about the block of flats, and I 'phoned the Estate Agent and they had a vacancy and...well, here we are! Why'd you ask?"

"I've been given a job offer at a reserve in Wales, and if I take it, I'll need to start looking for somewhere to live," explained Charlie. "But wizard-owned places are so expensive!"

"You're much better off going for somewhere like this," Hermione said. "It's owned by Muggles, but it's so close to Diagon Alley, there's quite a few magical people living here. Padma and Terry, the ones who recommended it, and Daphne Greengrass is on the ground floor. You remember Daphne, don't you?" she added to Ron.

"The name sounds vaguely familiar," he said.

"She was a Slytherin in our year—oh, come on, she wasn't that bad! Inoffensive, as far as Slytherins go," she said, as Ron pulled a face. "Her little sister's engaged to Draco Malfoy now."

"Malfoy's _engaged_?" Ron said, sounding horrified. "Dear Merlin, what if he breeds?"

"And then there's Penelope Clearwater next door but one to us – at number twenty seven," Hermione continued, ignoring her fiancé.

"Penelope Clearwater, Percy's ex?" Ron laughed.

"The very same," nodded Hermione.

"_Percy_ has an ex?" Charlie asked, sounding delighted. "You mean more than one woman was daft enough to go out with him?"

Ron hooted with laughter, whilst Hermione tried her hardest to look disapproving. "She's a very nice girl," she said sternly.

"So Merlin only knows what she was doing with him!" chortled Ron.

"I have to go and meet this woman," Charlie said. "Number twenty seven, did you say?"

"Yes, but—" Hermione began, but he cut her off.

"I think I'll just stop by and say hello," he said. "See you two at the Burrow for Sunday lunch!"

"You can't just turn up on someone's doorstep when you don't know them at all!" protested Hermione, but Ron shushed her and closed the door firmly behind his brother.

"I don't care what he does now that I've got you alone!" he said, leaning in to kiss her on the lips. "You know," he added, after a moment. "We do have this _whole_ place to ourselves...no more fretting about someone walking in on us..."

"I think Harry's just about got over that incident," Hermione giggled, referring to the time that the Boy Who Lived had walked in on the two of them in Ron's old bedroom at his parents' house. "Anyway, there's no way he can walk in on us in our new bedroom!"

"There's other places he can't walk in on us, too," Ron said. "Why don't we..." he whispered something in her ear.

"Ron!" she exclaimed. "We can't do _that_ in the kitchen. It's...it's _unhygienic_!"

"I'm sure you know a good cleaning spell," Ron said, picking her up and carrying her into the kitchen.

"We _can't_," Hermione giggled, but she didn't protest too hard as he kissed her, sliding his hands down her back. She groaned softly, feeling the heat of his body next to hers. "Mmm... We should—" There was a knock at the door. "Stop," she finished, much less sensuously.

Ron pulled away, breathing heavily. "Whoever it is gets thirty seconds of our time, right?"

"Ten seconds," Hermione said grimly. "And it'd better be a life-or-death situation."

"That's my girl," Ron mumbled, throwing open the door. "Percy! What can I do for you this fine evening? Oh, and Audrey too? Come on in, both of you, make yourselves at home!"

Neither Percy nor his wife seemed to notice his sarcasm – in contrast, both beamed at Hermione and Ron, who exchanged bemused glances. "We have some news," began Audrey, a smile lighting up her pretty face.

"Important news," Percy nodded, his grin belying his solemn tone.

"Very good important news," Audrey agreed.

"Spit it out, then!" said Ron, rather impatiently.

"We're going to have a baby!" Percy cried, and Ron looked momentarily stunned.

"I—wow—a baby!" he said.

"Congratulations!" Hermione threw her arms around the pair of them. "That's fantastic news! Do you know what you're having yet? When's it due?"

"I'm two months along, so we're due in March," Audrey said.

"But we don't know what we're having yet," added Percy. "We're just so excited though – we've been round telling everyone this afternoon! Incidentally, have you guys seen Charlie? He seems to have vanished..."

"Yes, he's busy chatting up—" Ron began helpfully.

"How about we toast your good news?" Hermione said loudly.

"Good idea!" Ron said. "Harry and Ginny brought some Firewhiskey around earlier..." The other three looked at him pointedly. "Oh, right, yes, of course. Er, do we have anything non-alcoholic?" he asked Hermione.

"I'm afraid we don't have anything at all – we've only just this afternoon moved in," she explained to Percy and Audrey.

"Oh, we'll be in your way, then," said Audrey. "We don't want to be annoying – we'll just get on, and—"

"It's okay, we'll toast you with a glass of water instead!" smiled Hermione. Five minutes later, the health of Percy, Audrey and the new baby had been toasted several times with glasses of tap water, hugs and kisses had been exchanged and Ron and Hermione were finally alone. "_Merlin_," Hermione said, letting out a long breath. "I love your family, Ron, but..._Merlin_." She walked over to him and slipped her hands around his waist. "Now," she said, her voice much softer. "Where were we?"

To her surprise, he pulled away. "Wait just one moment," he said, pulling a piece of parchment out of a drawer and summoning a quill. He scribbled something on the parchment, then held it up for her to read. '_If you could all kindly bugger off and leave us alone for the evening, we would much appreciate it as we're looking forward to shagging each other senseless all night and we can't get to that whilst we're constantly being interrupted by you lot. Best wishes, Ron and Hermione._'

"Here, here," said Hermione. Ron took the parchment off her and walked towards their front door, throwing it open and affixing it to the wood with a wave of his wand. "_Ron_!" she giggled. "What're you doing? You can't leave it there – people will see!"

"Nah, they won't," Ron said. "I've charmed it so only Weasleys can read it – anyone else'll just see a blank piece of parchment. Not just a pretty face, me!" he added cheerfully.

"That's very clever," said Hermione, amused, "but your brothers and Ginny'll never let you live it down!"

"Right now, I don't care," he replied. "I've been wanting to have you all to myself all day and I'm buggered if I'm letting them get in the way any longer! And besides, I have enough blackmail material on all of them to buy their silence, should they try anything. Now, I think I'm _finally_ going to get to ravish you without being interrupted by any of them!"

"_Hallelujah_," Hermione said with feeling.

Some time later, they both fell back against the rumpled sheets, panting. "Worth the wait?" Ron asked, arching an eyebrow.

Hermione smiled. "Definitely!" They lay together for a while, before she struck up again. "I love you, Ron Weasley. And I love our first flat, and I love that I'm living here with you, and...mostly I just love you."

It was Ron's turn to smile. "And I love you, too."

"Ready for another go?" asked Hermione, grinning at him.

"Definitely!"

Before either of them could move, they heard the unmistakable crack of two people apparating outside their door. "I bet that's George and Angelina," Ron whispered. "She can only control him for so long, and you know what he's like, he'll have come back to take the mickey out of us..."

"Or Harry and Ginny," Hermione whispered back. "Those two are completely clueless – you'd have thought they'd have learnt not to open locked doors by now..."

"Even Harry can't be daft enough not to understand my sign, though," Ron pointed out, and Hermione giggled.

"Good work on that," she said.

"If you could all kindly bugger off and leave us alone for the evening, we would much appreciate it," they heard a male voice read, "as we're looking forward to—good heavens!"

"_Ronald Weasley_!" a second voice—female—screeched. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh Merlin!" Ron gulped, turning paler than Nearly-Headless Nick and pulling the bedsheets up to his chin, as though this would protect him. "_Mum_!"

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